The best place to store photos

It is best when they are stored both on disk and in the cloud, where, on the one hand, they are reliably protected, and on the other hand, they are easily accessible. Of course, there are both paid and free storage services, where you can upload photos and not be afraid for their future storage. By the way, you can place your photos for their further storage and admiring on our website.

It is very easy to solve the problem of photo safety using cloud storage. "Cloud" is the best place for storing photos, special servers under the supervision of very large and serious companies. Often, information on servers is mirrored, that is, it is duplicated on several hard drives located in different places. You need to understand that in the event of a serious failure, millions of people will lose their data hosted in the "clouds" of photo storage from Google or Microsoft. Naturally, this will entail a loss of reputation, lawsuits, a complete loss of confidence in other services and products of the company, which, ultimately, will lead to its collapse. It's almost impossible to imagine this in the case of Google or Miscorosft.

Where can you safely store your photos?

Determining which storage services are the best is a rather difficult task. When choosing, it is worth considering:  

  • supported platforms;     
  • the number of gigabytes provided for free;
  • the ability to view photos on the Internet and other amenities of the service;
  • restrictions on the amount of downloaded files, traffic, the number of synchronized devices.

The most popular places for photo storage and sharing without sacrificing your wallet or family budget. 

1. Record and store photos on an external USB storage device

Large volume and high write speed, what could be better. Indeed, this method can be called one of the best options.

Advantages of storage on photo storage:

  • Fast write speed, portability, large storage capacity.
  • Cheap storage space considering the cost per gigabyte (1 GB) of information.

2. Make a copy of the photo archive 

Make a copy of the photo archive on the hard drive of a stationary computer or laptop.

A desktop HDD is a fast, inexpensive and reliable enough device for photo storage. You can store photos on it too. But a hard drive that is constantly on is susceptible to sudden loss of information or failure.

Advantages of storing photos on the hard drive of a stationary computer:

  • Potentially huge amount of stored data.
  • No additional costs and time wasted downloading and storing files and data - quickly copied and forgotten.
  • Desktop drives are cheaper than any other storage device of the same size.

3. Photo storage and sharing on a memory card 

Photo storage and sharing on a memory card of a camera or smartphone is also an option.

If memory allows, then why not? Moreover, the Android or iOS operating system allows you to compress the content on your smartphone, and upload a high-quality photo to the cloud automatically. But be sure to make a copy elsewhere.

Advantages of photo storage in a smartphone or on a camera card:

  • No need to waste time saving and transferring files to another medium. It is only advisable to create a duplicate archive for the most reliable storage.

4. Burn photos to DVD disc (outdated, but let it be)

This method has limitations and very significant: the size of the recording space for a single-sided, single-layer DVD is 4.7 GB. If the size of your camera's flash memory is significantly larger, this method is clearly not suitable as a backup space.

Advantages:

  • This method of the photo storage and sharing may be the most durable. Since DVD discs retain their readability for up to 100 years. But it must be stored in a dry, dark place.
  • Some files up to 4.7 GB can be saved quickly and cheaply. The disc takes up little space and is easy to store. DVDs have a shelf life of 40 to 100 years.

5. Save your photos to the free cloud

Cloud storage is one of the most convenient, cheap (free) and reliable data storage methods today. Let me explain why.

Advantages of cloud photo storage

  • Free to use up to 20 GB (10 GB).
  • Cheap gigabytes and unlimited storage space.
  • High mobility due to access from anywhere in the world.
  • High reliability.

5 photo storage service companies

  1. Dropbox

Dropbox

Dropbox is an alternative to a memory card for those who are looking for where to store photos from a smartphone for free. Photos can be easily uploaded to the cloud from a computer or smartphone, from a browser or client application. From your account on the website of photo storage and sharing Dropbox, you can:

  • create folders, upload photos;     
  • allow the display to upload files;    
  • provide access by reference;   
  • view photos, add to favorites, rename.  
  1. Portfoliobox

You can also store your photos on Portfoliobox. It is designed particularly for people involved in art. It specializes in creating online portfolio. The main advantage of Portfoliobox is the easy registration process. So, you can create your own website in a couple of minutes. The platform has 6 categories of specializations for you to choose: make-up artists, stylists and models, photographer, designer, artist, illustrators and students. Moreover, it offers a range of additional services, like tips for your portfolio, choosing domain name and more.   

  1. Google Drive

Google Drive

This is photo storage service, where it is convenient and safe to store photos and videos without a time limit. The only limitation on free cloud usage is that photos are compressed to 16MP, and videos are compressed to 1080p. However, from the summer of 2021, Google threatens to monetize the service, leaving only 15 GB free.

Benefits of the Google Photos service:

  • Automatic duplicate removal;
  • Smart search;
  • Auto Creative;
  • Built-in photo editor.
  1. iCloud is one of the best storage services for iPhone.

iCloud

The company approached the question of where to store and sync photos from the iPhone creatively, offering:

  •  2 tools in iCloud at once: Photo Stream and Media Library. Both services upload photos to the cloud, but are designed to solve slightly different problems.
  • The photostream can be called a weigh station, a temporary storage facility. It stores up to 1000 photos per hour, up to 10 thousand - per week, up to 25 thousand per month.
  • The media library is intended for long-term photo storage and sharing. You can upload any number of photos to it, but free space in the cloud is limited to 5 GB.
  1. One Drive

One Drive

OneDrive is a photo storage service that runs on computers, tablets and other Windows devices. In addition, you can access the storage from your MacBook and your Android phone.

Advantages:

  • Upload photos to the cloud directly from Windows Explorer.
  • Search for a photo by name, date, place of filming. The ability to edit tags.
  • Group photos by date.
  • Manual and automatic creation of albums.
  • Organization of quick sharing of documents / photos / videos.
  • The company provides 5GB of storage for free. If you need more, they offer to pay.

6.pCloud

pCloud

This one of the storage services will suit those who prefer not American, but European data centers. The company is based in Switzerland, and uses servers operating in EU countries. PCloud storage offers its services to Windows, Mac, Linux users. Owners of smartphones on iOS and Android can also store photos in the cloud.

After uploading photos to photo storage, synchronization with all devices starts to the cloud. The company proposes to install a virtual disk pCloud Drive in computers, where you can safely store photos. Smartphone owners can back up photos and videos in one click.

Top of the best storage services in the cloud

Photo storage and sharing

Choosing a photo storage platform isn't always easy. But we will help you figure it out, they will help you put things in order in your photo collection and not lose anything:

  1. "Google Drive"

Google Drive

Cloud for photos: "Google Drive"

Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.

One-stop solution for the photo storage, suitable for users of all popular platforms. You can work with any type of file directly in Google Drive. But managing images is much more convenient through a separate cross-platform Google Photos app that syncs with the cloud.

  1. Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud

Photo Cloud: Adobe Creative Cloud

Platforms: web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.

It is one of the best storage services for professional photographers or avid amateurs. Adobe Creative Cloud isn't cheap, but you get the advanced Adobe Lightroom photo editor to help you do whatever you want with your photos.

Adobe Lightroom displays photos uploaded to the cloud in a convenient and beautiful gallery, which is very easy to navigate. Artificial intelligence groups photos by objects and even specific people. The application also supports group libraries, so you can sort and process images with friends and colleagues.

  1. Mega.nz

Mega.nz

Photo storage service positions itself more as a free file hosting service, as many as 50 GB of data are available to users immediately after registration.

Best of Mega Cloud Storage:

You can install not only applications, but also a browser extension, as well as an email client that allows you to send files of any size by mail.

Huge amounts of data storage - virtually nothing.

How to set up your smartphone for photo storage and sharing in the cloud?

All you need to do is to:

  •  install a special program that will duplicate all the taken pictures in the cloud in real time (including those that were taken earlier). You can access these photos from any device with Internet access. You just need to know your username and password (that is, no one will ever see these photos without your permission). The two most popular solutions from the largest and most trusted companies are Google Photos and Microsoft OneDrive. They are available on both Android and iPhone.
  • Google Photos is the smartest choice of all storage services. Some of the most significant qualities that make Google different from other cloud storage services are high quality

The maximum size of a photo photo storage is 16 megapixels. If, for example, your smartphone has a 20 megapixel camera, the size of the uploaded photos will be resized to 16 megapixels. Also, Google will apply lossless compression. A 10MB photo will change to 1MB when it gets into Google Photos. At the same time, it is almost impossible to see the difference between the original and the condensed versions with the naked eye. In terms of video, the maximum resolution is 4K. That is, when uploading a 4K video to Google Photos, the size will be resized to FullHD.

Google will provide photo storage in the size and quality that you upload. No compression or resizing will be applied. In this case, you only have 15 GB of cloud storage available (which, by the way, is more than Microsoft OneDrive or iCloud). If you need more space, you will have to pay from $ 3 and more monthly (depending on the tariff and the amount of memory).

How to back up your photos?

Why do I need a backup? We assume that if you are documenting memories, you are taking care of photo storage and sharing.

  1. Backup to an external drive

If you save your files to external media, you need another disk on which you will periodically (for example, once a week, once a month) back up all your files.

  1. Backup to NAS is a great option photo    

In the case of a network drive, this issue can be solved more conveniently: simply by selecting the drive from the RAID array. After all, a NAS server can be equipped with more than 1 disk, and you can set up connections between individual media.

RAID means that the server has at least 2 internal hard drives and the contents of the first one are automatically copied to the other. Everything happens automatically, without your intervention - it is enough that you mount only two disks in the NAS and configure them accordingly.

You have many options to choose from, from RAID 1 to RAID 6, as well as specialized solutions such as some of the Synology SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID) models. Thus, you can configure the way of backing up and photo storage and sharing.

  1. Cloud backup

Is the cloud suitable for backups? Obviously yes. Remember, however, that this is an external service that does not give one hundred percent confidence that it will be with it over time. Here, too, there are failures or the provider may simply stop providing such services.

Photo storage and sharing is a responsible and important point if you have a lot of photos that are important enough for you. There are many platforms for storing photos, we hope you choose one of them from our article. By the way, you can also post your photos in your personal portfolio on our website. 

FAQ

How do I find my photos in the cloud?       

  1. Open the Photos app.
  2. Click the Photos tab to view your photos.
  3. Click the Albums tab to view the My Albums, Shared Albums, People & Places, Media Types, and Other Albums sections.

Where is the best place to store photos on an SSD or HDD?

Most data recovery experts recommend using a second hard drive, not an SSD, to back up critical files. It is even better if it is a special type of external HDD. For more reliable storage of the family archive, it is worth to fork out for special HDDs.

Where to store photos to free up memory?

Large storages (OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud, and others) are able to automatically sync photos when devices are connected. Plus, you can back up smartphones to iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox.

Where is the safest place to store photos?

The ideal option is a pair: external hard drive + cloud storage. Or desktop hard drive + cloud storage. For increased privacy, before uploading to the cloud, archive your photos to. ZIP archive with a set password.

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